Cheng Zhou's weakness
Hu Tong spent the entire afternoon in his bedroom and, in a fit of anger, finished all his holiday homework.
She closed her calligraphy practice book and slapped it on the desk. Hu Tong made up her mind: she would never eat the Planet Cup again, and she would never smile at her father again. She would become a wooden doll who only knew how to study and never smile, making her father regret it!
However, after dinner, Hu Tong completely forgot about this insistence.
The evening news was playing on TV. Hu Jiale, who had just returned from a business trip, was chatting with her father, while Cheng Zhou sat on a small sofa nearby reading a book.
Although Hu Tong studied diligently, she was very particular about her study environment and would get angry at the slightest noise. She didn't know how Cheng Zhou could concentrate on his studies in such a noisy environment, and she became even more wary of this snow-white boy.
She skipped over to her mother and sat down, asking with a grin, "Mommy, who is your favorite child?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhou stopped flipping through the pages, held his breath, and listened without raising his head.
“You,” Hu Jiale said gently, using her fingers as a comb to smooth her daughter’s unruly hair, “you are my child, so I love you the most.”
Like a seesaw, Hu Tong on one side happily tilted his face up, while Cheng Zhou on the other side pressed his round head down even lower.
“But Xiaozhou is Aunt Xiaoyin’s child, and with Aunt Xiaoyin’s love for Xiaozhou, you two are the same to your mother.”
Hu Jiale finished speaking and then rubbed Hu Tong's cheek with a smile.
She knows her daughter best.
Hu Tong is not a child who lacks love, nor is she the generous and "sensible" child that others describe. She has a strong possessive desire for everything she owns, down to a pencil or an eraser.
Many people have said that Hu Tong is too strong-willed, but Hu Jiale believes that her daughter is the most sensible child in the world. Hu Tong understands her own affairs.
Before Hu Tong could even smile as her mother rubbed her cheeks, a dark shadow flashed past. Cheng Zhou leaped up like a cannonball and pounced into Hu Jiale's arms.
Hu Tong tried to pull this person out of her mother's arms, shaking her head and calling out "Cheng Zhou," but her eyes suddenly caught a color that was too bright.
Her attention was instantly diverted.
Oh no, Cheng Zhou is doomed.
On the first day of school after the National Day holiday, it happened to be Cheng Zhou's group's turn to clean. Hu Tong took advantage of his position to stay behind and supervise them.
Okay, even if she doesn't wait for Cheng Zhou in the classroom, she should wait for him at the school gate later. Hu Tong wrote characters on the grid paper stroke by stroke, and instructed Cheng Zhou in a very official tone to leave the trash until last.
"Okay," Cheng Zhou replied obediently as he stood on tiptoe to wipe the blackboard.
The cleaning task for first-grade students is not heavy, and they can finish it in no time.
Hu Tong stood at the classroom door, waving goodbye to each classmate who passed by. But when it came to the last student, Cheng Zhou, she frowned and said mysteriously, "I know your secret, Cheng Zhou."
Cheng Zhou visibly trembled.
He looked at Hu Tong with unease. The little girl was backlit, and her shadow was stretched long by the sunlight, like a dark, monstrous beast.
Cheng Zhou bit his lip and remained silent, as if Hu Tong wouldn't have a chance to reveal his secret unless he asked, "What secret?"
Unfortunately, Hu Tong is different from Cheng Zhou. She is not the kind of polite child who only answers questions and never interrupts.
Hu Tong grinned, rushed behind Cheng Zhou, opened his schoolbag, and pulled out several books with "Chinese," "Mathematics," and "Science" written on their covers.
Throughout the entire process, Cheng Zhou simply turned around to express his displeasure.
Cheng Zhou didn't want to push and shove with Hu Tong, afraid that Hu Tong would get hurt.
Of course, if it really came down to a fight, he wouldn't be able to beat Hu Tong.
Cheng Zhou sighed heavily and watched Hu Tong open his book.
On the unfolded pages, the initials, finals, and whole-syllable recognitions are not clearly visible, nor are the ten numbers and the greater than/less than/equal to signs; all that can be seen are colorful little drawings.
"Today, Teacher Sun came to ask me if I wanted to be your deskmate and your little teacher!" Hu Tong said loudly. "I was wondering why you were always reading but your grades weren't good. Turns out you spend all your time drawing!"
Cheng Zhou lowered his head in embarrassment and repeatedly apologized.
When Cheng Zhou was still in kindergarten, his mother didn't care how many characters he knew or how many English words he could say; Cheng Zhou could do whatever he wanted.
But things are different now. His mother died, and he moved in with Aunt Lele.
Although Aunt Lele never made any demands on him, Cheng Zhou could see the Hu family's characteristics in Hu Tong's powerful handwriting that seemed to cut through the paper, the all-English booklet that Aunt Lele often held, and Hu's father's thick glasses.
It's a vibrant, warm orange, and also a meticulous, hardworking deep gray.
He needs to adapt, so he has to change.
But change was too difficult for Xiao Chengzhou, so he had no choice but to begin his disguise with trepidation.
Cheng Zhou knew this was wrong, so when Hu Tong forced him to confess, he cried with tears streaming down his face.
Cheng Zhou handed the textbooks to Hu Jiale and said in a tearful voice, "I'm sorry, Aunt Lele."
Hu Jiale had just returned home from get off work and was squatting in the entryway changing her shoes when she saw Cheng Zhou crying miserably. She also noticed that behind the little crybaby were Hu Tong, who looked smug, and Hu's father, who looked helpless. She became suspicious.
She asked, "What's wrong, Xiaozhou? Do you need Aunt Lele's signature on your homework?"
"No!" Cheng Zhou mustered his courage, stuffed the book into Hu Jiale's arms, and sat down on the small stool in the reflection corner.
Mr. Hu shrugged and chuckled at the bewildered Hu Jia, "She was already like this when I picked her up at the school gate. She wouldn't answer any of my questions. Xiao Zhou said she absolutely had to see you."
The more confused the two adults became, the more smug Hu Tong became.
That was definitely her idea!
Her father was her father, and of course he loved her far more than Cheng Zhou.
But in her mother's eyes, Hu Tong and Cheng Zhou were of equal status!
She made Cheng Zhou be honest with his mother because she hoped that his mother would love Cheng Zhou a little less, not as much as she loved her.
Just as Hu Tong had hoped, the faint smile on Hu Jiale's face disappeared after she opened the books.
"Xiao Zhou, Aunt Lele doesn't disapprove of your drawing, but drawing with a pen and paper while lying on the table is different from secretly drawing in your textbook. Since you know that what you're doing is wrong, then sit on the stool obediently for five minutes."
Hu Tong didn't hear a word her mother said; she just kept repeating the last sentence, "Sit on the stool for five minutes..."
"hey-hey……"
Mom finally decided to punish Cheng Zhou.
Hu Tong said gloatingly, "But Mom, how heartbroken Aunt Xiaoyin would be if she saw you punishing Cheng Zhou from heaven..."
Hu Jiale turned to look at her, her face expressionless, and said, "Go stand next to the small boat."
"Pfft." Mr. Hu couldn't help but laugh. Under Hu Jiale's glare, he covered his mouth and scurried into the kitchen to escape the battle.
Hu Tong stared blankly at her mother for a while. Seeing that she wasn't joking, she walked to the reflection corner with a displeased look on her face and stomped her feet loudly.
Hu Jiale pretended not to hear the noise her daughter was making and went to the kitchen to help her father.
The two little bean sprouts huddled in the corner, neither looking at the other.
Hu Tong was silently angry when he heard a soft laugh from the person next to him.
She turned her head in disbelief, only to see a single whorl on Cheng Zhou's head, less than her own. Hu Tong plopped down on the ground, tilting her head to look at Cheng Zhou, and scolded, "What are you laughing at? You're not even taking your self-reflection seriously!"
"Aunt Lele is punishing me," Cheng Zhou said softly, a dreamy, blissful expression appearing on her porcelain-white face.
Hu Tong remained silent, thinking to himself: Cheng Zhou is such a strange person. He was always unhappy when his mother pampered him like a treasure, but now that he's being punished, he's laughing out loud.
She actually considers someone like that as an opponent; how low-class!
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